Infants and other incontinent individuals wear absorbent articles such as diapers to receive and contain urine and other body exudates. Absorbent articles function both to contain the discharged materials and to isolate these materials from the body of the wearer and from the wearer's garments and bed clothing. Disposable absorbent articles having many different basic designs are known to the art. For example, U.S. Pat. Re. 26,152, entitled "Disposable Diaper" issued to Duncan and Baker on Jan. 31, 1967, describes a disposable diaper which has achieved wide acceptance and commercial success. U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,003, entitled "Contractable Side Portions For Disposable Diaper", issued to Buell on Jan. 14, 1975, describes an elasticized leg cuff disposable diaper which has achieved wide acceptance and commercial success.
However, absorbent articles have a tendency to sag or gap away from and to slide/slip down on the body of the wearer during wear. This sagging/gapping and sliding/slipping is caused by the relative motions of the wearer as the wearer breathes, moves and changes positions, by the downward forces generated when the absorbent article is loaded with body exudates, and by the deformation of the materials of the absorbent article itself when subjected to such wearer's motions. This sagging/gapping and sliding/slipping of the absorbent article can lead to premature leakage and poor fit of the absorbent article about the wearer in the waist regions and the leg regions of the absorbent article.
In order to more snugly fit absorbent articles about the waist of the wearer, certain commercially available absorbent articles have been provided with elastic waist features. An example of a disposable diaper with an elastic waist feature which has achieved wide acceptance and commercial success is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,595 issued to Kievit and Osterhage on May 7, 1985. Elastic waist features will typically comprise an elasticized waistband consisting of an elastic member contractibly affixed between the topsheet and the backsheet. The elasticized waistband is, thus, designed to expand and contract with the wearer's motions and to maintain the fit of the absorbent article about the waist of the wearer during use (i.e., provide sustained dynamic fit).
However, it has been found that absorbent articles having elastic waist features also have a tendency to sag/gap and slide/slip during use. Further, the elastic waist feature has a tendency to rollover or roll-in at the front of the diaper resulting in a lack of fit about the waist of the wearer.
Thus, it would be advantageous to provide an absorbent article having an elastic waist feature that provides better fit, reduced leakage, and wearer comfort. It would further be advantageous to provide an absorbent article which has reduced sagging, gapping, rollover, or roll-in at the waist of the diaper as well as reduced overall sliding/slipping of the absorbent article or the absorbent core on the wearer during use.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article having sustained dynamic fit about the waist of the wearer during use.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article having a unique elastic waist feature that provides sustained dynamic fit and improved resistance to leakage during use.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article having a unique elastic waist feature which reduces sagging, gapping, rollover or roll-in at the front of the diaper as well as overall sliding/slipping of the absorbent article or the absorbent core during use.
It is an another object of the present invention to provide a unique elastic waist feature having an elasticized waistband that provides such sustained dynamic fit by providing a predisposed, resilient, waistband flexural hinge zone which allows relative flexural bending between zones of the elasticized waistband and provides a restoring force/moment to resiliently return the zones to essentially their preceding in-use configuration.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a closure system that maintains/creates lateral tension through at least a portion of the unique elastic waist feature to enhance the sustained dynamic fit.
These and other objects of the present invention will be more readily apparent when considered in reference to the following description and when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.